Editing Kenmore, Washington (section)

==History==
The [[Sammamish River]] valley from [[Lake Washington]] to Issaquah Creek was historically inhabited by the indigenous [[Sammamish people]] (also known as the "s-tah-PAHBSH", or "willow people"), a [[Coast Salish]] group with an estimated population of 80 to 200 by 1850.<ref name="HL - Bothell">{{cite web |last=Wilma |first=David |date=June 12, 2003 |title=Bothell — Thumbnail History |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/4190 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |access-date=May 13, 2008}}</ref><ref name="Bothell History">{{cite web |title=History of Bothell |url=https://www.bothellwa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/315/Bothell-History-PDF |publisher=City of Bothell |accessdate=February 19, 2022}}</ref> Among them were the "ssts'p-abc" ("meander dwellers"), who settled near the river's mouth at two villages—the larger of which was "tlah-WAH-dees" between modern-day Kenmore and [[Bothell, Washington|Bothell]].<ref name="Bothell History"/><ref name="KC-Streams">{{cite web |date=October 24, 2018 |title=King County Streams Monitoring Update for September 2018: Sammamish River |pages=3–5 |url=https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/topic_files/WAKING/WAKING_993/2018/10/23/file_attachments/1093754/stream_monitor_2018_09__1093754.pdf |publisher=[[King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks]] |accessdate=February 19, 2022}}</ref> The Sammamish were removed from their lands in 1856 following the [[Puget Sound War]] and moved to the [[Port Madison Indian Reservation|Port Madison]] and [[Tulalip Indian Reservation|Tulalip]] Indian reservations.<ref name="HL - Bothell"/> The forested land that would become Kenmore was then owned by [[Philo Remington]] of [[E. Remington and Sons]], who subsequently sold it to son-in-law [[Watson C. Squire]], a former [[List of governors of Washington|governor]] of the [[Washington Territory]].<ref name="incorp">{{cite web |last=Wilma |first=David |date=December 26, 2002 |url=http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=4092 |title=Kenmore votes to incorporate on September 16, 1997. |work=HistoryLink |access-date=March 24, 2007}}</ref>

===Early 20th century===
[[Scotsman]] John McMasters and his wife Annie arrived in Puget Sound in May 1889 from [[Kenmore, Ontario]], intending to establish themselves in the shingle-making trade. McMasters and his business partner, Chris Kruse, leased land from Squire and opened a shingle mill on the northeastern shore of Lake Washington on January 1, 1901. Establishing a [[company town]] alongside the mill for his employees, McMasters named it after his earlier hometown in [[Canada]], which in turn was named after the [[Kenmore, Perth and Kinross|village]] in [[Scotland]], registering the name with the state on January 10.<ref name="HL - name">{{cite web |last1=Stein |first1=Alan J. |title=John McMaster names the Village of Kenmore on January 10, 1901. |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/2927 |website=HistoryLink |access-date=January 1, 2024 |date=January 4, 2001}}</ref><ref name="KHS - Etymology">{{cite web |title=How Did Kenmore Get Its Name? No. it wasn't named for the washing machine! |url=https://kenmoreheritagesociety.com/how-did-kenmore-get-its-name-no-it-wasnt-named-for-the-washing-machine/ |publisher=Kenmore Heritage Society |access-date=January 1, 2024 |date=July 31, 2023}}</ref> By 1903, Kenmore had established a school system and post office, with McMasters named the first [[postmaster]] for the latter.<ref name="HL - name" /><ref name="PO">{{cite web |last=Lange |first=Greg |date=February 15, 1999 |url=http://historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=583 |title=Kenmore Post Office opens on November 12, 1903. |work=[[HistoryLink]] |access-date=March 24, 2007}}</ref>

Despite cargo railway service passing through the area as early as 1887 via the [[Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway]], most access to the city in its early days was by boat, with regular ferry service to [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Bothell, Washington|Bothell]], and [[Woodinville, Washington|Woodinville]] starting in 1906. The city later gained a passenger railroad stop. The first improved road connection to Seattle and Bothell&mdash;the Red Brick Road&mdash;opened between 1913 and 1914, with bus service following the laying of the bricks. As a result, Kenmore became a country retreat for weekend gardeners with local landowners selling off clear-cut "garden plots" to Seattlites with automobiles and green thumbs.  It attracted at least two short-lived [[nudist camp]]s during the 1920s.

Far more striking, however, was the impact of [[Prohibition]]. Kenmore quickly became famous in [[Seattle]] for its fine country dining and, more importantly, its fine country [[drinking]], as a substantial illegal alcohol industry developed to meet the demands of [[Jazz Age]] Seattle nightlife. Although relatively close to Seattle proper thanks to [[Washington State Route 522|Bothell Way]]'s status as one of the few improved roads then heading north from downtown it was nonetheless far enough out that Department of Revenue officers could, for the most part, ignore it.

The Blind Pig, a roadhouse on Shuter's Landing at Lake Washington, was probably the most famous of the Kenmore [[speakeasy]]s.  At the lakeside, its illegal hooch could be dumped into the lake quickly and easily should it become necessary.  Few people were fooled; the name itself was, in fact, [[blind pig|a well-known slang term meaning "speakeasy".]]  But despite its notoriety, the Pig was not even the city's most infamous saloon.  Routine violence and fist-fights at the Inglewood Tavern earned that establishment an alternative name: the Bucket of Blood.

This archipelago of dining and entertainment - over 30 different restaurants, dance halls, bars, and clubs in a three-block area - remained a major part of Kenmore's identity through the 1940s.

===Post-war redevelopment===
Once the [[Great Depression]] hit, Kenmore became home for a small settlement of workers under President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[Back to the Land]] program.  Paid by the [[Works Progress Administration]], a small number of workers settled in an area of northwestern Kenmore which became known as "Voucherville", after the vouchers the WPA paid in lieu of a cash salary.

After the end of [[World War II]], Kenmore became home to [[Nike Hercules|US Army Nike Hercules missile batteries]] as part of cold-war era defense plans. These nuclear-tipped anti-aircraft missiles were intended to protect Seattle and environs from [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] bombers, should war break out. They were removed in 1974.<ref name="nike-battery">"[http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3688 Seattle tests a super siren during the Cold War on February 27, 1952]." ''HistoryLink.org.'' Essay 3688. Retrieved on April 2, 2007.</ref>

The post-war era largely transformed downtown. [[Kenmore Air Harbor]], which today is one of the world's largest [[seaplane]]-only airports, opened not far from the old location of the Blind Pig; [[Kenmore Air]] itself today runs a fleet of seaplanes serving waterside destinations throughout [[Pacific Northwest|Cascadia]].  At the same time, Kenmore's immediate proximity to Seattle&mdash;just two miles (3&nbsp;km) north of modern Seattle city limits&mdash; made it an early target of post-war housing development.  The first plats in the new Uplake neighborhood were sold in 1954.  Housing development continued throughout the Kenmore area for the next several decades, mostly following the postwar suburban model; industrial and commercial growth followed quickly behind, and within a few decades, most of the old Kenmore dining and drinking had vanished, replaced by shopping centers, industrial development, and housing. However, one part of this new development brought its own history along with it: the Jewel Box Building in downtown Kenmore is a [[Century 21 Exposition|Seattle World's Fair]] artifact, moved from [[Seattle Center]] to Kenmore after the end of the fair in October, 1962.

The city gained its first college in 1996, with the relocation of [[Bastyr University]] from [[Seattle]] onto the grounds of the former [[St. Edward Seminary]].

===Incorporation and downtown revitalization===
Kenmore residents considered incorporation many times since the town's founding; one such incorporation vote failed in 1954.<ref name="khs-timeline">''[http://www.scn.org/kenmoreheritage/timeline.htm Kenmore Heritage Society Timeline]{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }},'' Kenmore Heritage Society. Retrieved on April 15, 2007.</ref>  The idea gained popular support through the 1990s, however, partly in response to the passage of the [[Washington State Growth Management Act]] of 1990. Formation of an exploration committee in 1995 led to a successful public vote shortly thereafter, and the city formally incorporated on August 31, 1998, 97 years after its original founding.<ref name="incorp" />

[[File:The Hangar at Town Square.png|thumb|The Hangar at Town Square]]

Following incorporation, the new government set about devising a local set of zoning codes and a downtown development plan with the intent of reviving and rebuilding the traditional core areas of the city.  A significant component of this plan involved extensive use of land now owned by the city, in the area known within the plan as the Northwest Quadrant. An open invitation was extended to all architects and developers to submit development plans for this newly available area in December, 2005.  The City Council chose to negotiate primarily with Kenmore Partners LLC in April 2006. Design plans were submitted to the city the following summer, with a conceptual overview made available to the public at the same time.<ref name="revital-downtown">"[http://www.downtownkenmore.com/ Revitalizing Downtown Kenmore] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022195512/http://www.downtownkenmore.com/|date=2006-10-22}}." ''[[Kenmore Partners, LLC]].'' Retrieved on March 24, 2007.</ref> In 2012, the City of Kenmore and Kenmore Partners LLC broke off their development agreement. After the split, Kenmore sold off 4.75 acres of former park and ride property in 2013 and sold two parcels north of Town Square in 2016 to MainStreet Property Group LLC to develop into mixed-use buildings. In 2017, Kenmore opened a community center called the Hangar at Town Square, a community gathering space which is available to the public to reserve for free.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kenmorewa.gov/our-city/projects/completed-projects/downtown-kenmore-redevelopment-project|title=Downtown Kenmore Redevelopment Project|website=City of Kenmore|access-date=Jul 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719042738/https://www.kenmorewa.gov/our-city/projects/completed-projects/downtown-kenmore-redevelopment-project|archive-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref>

Kenmore's oldest roads, now known most often by their county-assigned number systems, originally had more traditional names such as Cat's Whiskers Road (61st Avenue NE), Squire Boulevard (later Red Brick Road, now Bothell Way/[[SR 522 (WA)|SR 522]]), and Remington Drive (NE 181st Street). These traditional names were reinstated in 2007 as secondary names in the downtown area.<ref name="traditional-streetnames">"[http://www.scn.org/kenmoreheritage/khsnewsspring07.pdf Street Signs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706014100/http://www.scn.org/kenmoreheritage/khsnewsspring07.pdf |date=July 6, 2016 }}." ''Kenmore Heritage Society Spring 2007 Newsletter.'' Retrieved on April 2, 2007.</ref>

In 2009, Kenmore started building a new city hall on the corner of 68th Avenue Northeast and 181st Avenue Northeast. The building received a LEED gold rating and features solar panels, energy efficient lighting, and a rain garden among other energy-saving features. On May 22, 2010, Kenmore formally opened the new city hall building.<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--not stated-->|date=May 6, 2010|title=New Kenmore City Hall open house is set for Saturday; grand opening is May 22|url=https://www.bothell-reporter.com/news/new-kenmore-city-hall-open-house-is-set-for-saturday-grand-opening-is-may-22/|work=Bothell-Kenmore Reporter|location=Kenmore, Washington|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718230840/https://www.bothell-reporter.com/news/new-kenmore-city-hall-open-house-is-set-for-saturday-grand-opening-is-may-22/|archive-date=July 18, 2023|access-date=Jul 18, 2023}}</ref>